The Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (MoMAF) and the Ministry of National Development Planning (BAPPENAS) of the Government of Indonesia in collaboration with the Moroccan Agency for the Development of Aquaculture (ANDA) and the Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) under the Reverse Linkage (RL) programme, organized a series of technical meetings from 23 to 24 September 2020 focusing on developing strategic partnerships in the area of  Marine Aquaculture Development for Shrimp, Sea Cucumber and Seaweeds.

Reverse Linkages is a development cooperation mechanism in which IsDB member countries provide specific expertise and knowledge, investments, best practices, and other specialist services to address specific development constraints or exploit unique opportunities within member countries in the mutually beneficial arrangement. Through RL, the Government of Indonesia plays a prominent role and acts as a Knowledge Hub in South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC).

The intention of this current initiative is to develop the marine aquaculture sector in Morocco and enhancing a win-win partnership between both countries, by identifying opportunities for cooperation through exchange of relevant knowledge, technology, and also exploring potential trade and investment between the countries.

As such, the objective of the meeting, attended by senior officials from both countries, IsDB and key stakeholders, is to improve the understanding, experience, and technical know-how of both countries, including with private and public institutions, as well as to improve the international development cooperation between Indonesia-Morocco in the field of marine aquaculture.

In his opening remarks, while noting that Indonesia’s aquaculture industry is one of the largest in the world, the Head of the IsDB Regional Hub Indonesia, Mr Salah Jelassi, expressed hope that this meeting would go beyond knowledge sharing, and lead to a joint working plan that can yield concrete development cooperation between the two countries in aquaculture.